


too late

by sapphfics



Category: The Outpost (TV 2018)
Genre: Drunkenness, F/F, Setting: 1x04, i had thought this was gonna be smut but I Guess Not
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-09
Updated: 2018-08-09
Packaged: 2019-06-24 09:07:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15627405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sapphfics/pseuds/sapphfics
Summary: The first thing Talon thinks when she sees Gwynn is:I cut off my ears for someone like you, once.Or: A missing scene from Gwynn and Talon’s girl’s night, before they fell asleep.





	too late

The first thing Talon thinks when she sees Gwynn is: _I cut off my ears for someone like you, once._

It’s an involuntary thought, she knows, but it’s far more bearable than her mind’s usual way of taunting her. Memories of her tiny village burning, her family dead, the laughter of those who killed them flash behind her eyes in the dead of night, in mornings, in running once more. She’d scratch her skin raw in her sleep, trying to rip her way out. She’d look in the mirror and see a stranger staring back at her. 

She doesn’t like remembering anything from that time. Memories of the family who had taken her in are rarer still. The woman and the man had screamed when she had showed them her new ears. She, however, had a grin on her face, her own blood on her hands. She was proud of herself. She blinked up at them, confused. She thought they’d be happy. She could pass for human now. 

“I...Tomorrow, I’ll take out of my tear ducts,” Talon had declared, almost proud, still shaking. She hated crying. The tips of her ears were in the garden where she had removed them. She hoped they would soon be buried, the way her family never had the chance to. “Then I won’t cry anymore, I won’t be a burden to you anymore.” 

The blonde woman had touched a hand to her face once, stroked her cheek, lost for words. She muttered an apology to Talon, stood up and whispered to her husband something about the impulsive dangerous acts of grief stricken young girls. Her husband had left the room in disgust to go hunt since they both knew they couldn’t afford to get Talon a doctor. Talon had stopped smiling, had run up to the room she shared with their daughter and let herself cry for the last time. Their beautiful daughter must have sensed something was wrong, that Talon had ruined everything once again. It’s a pattern. She’d said nothing, only giving Talon a sack for her possessions as well as the tips of her ears, wrapped in one of her father’s old handkerchief. 

Talon had left them by the time they woke up the next morning. She still wonders if what the girl did was an act of kindness, or if the girl knew what she was and didn’t want to risk mercenaries at their door. She supposes it’s the latter, but she’ll never know. She knows she could pass for human, but she lets her hair fall over her ears even still. 

She doesn’t tell Gwynn any of this, of course, and won’t even remember the incident for several decades when she’s writing her wedding vows. Right now, she’s not thinking of love or marriage or children, only how to live to see the sunrise. She’s learned that her survival means saying nothing aloud. She keeps her ears buried in her father’s jacket pocket, the hidden one above her heart. She hopes he isn’t disappointed in her. 

They’ve slipped two of Gwynn’s many guards, but Talon knows they’ll be fine. It’s probably the alcohol that’s making her think like this. She’s never been drunk before, but she’s worked enough odd jobs in bars to see what alcohol does to people. The alcohol they put on her wounds to try and clean them was the closest she’s ever come. It doesn’t even taste good, but she likes letting someone else take care of her every once in a blue moon. She’s got more control over herself than Gwynn has right now, at least. She assumes it’s in her blood. 

Gwynn is gripping her hand trying to keep herself steady. The other arm is around her waist. She’s giggling. Talon wonders how she hasn’t tripped over her skirt. 

“Talon, you are so _talll_ ,” Gwynn says, she’s slurring her words, extending them when she doesn’t need to. “You’re like a tree. A beautiful tree, in a pretty meadow in summer. The kind of tree you could take to. I still can’t believe you killed someone who wanted to kill me. Only Garret ever did that for me.” 

“I told you: he killed my family,” Talon reminds her. “He ruined my life. I didn’t kill him _just_ for you.” 

“Ha! You said ‘just for me!’ So you did a little though, didn’t you?” Gwynn tries to wink but it comes off more as a blink. “You liiike me, admit it!” 

“Well, I don’t dislike you,” Talon responds. “I don’t remember the last time I had a real friend.” 

“I’ve seen you in the bath, you’ve worn my clothes more than once, I know that you cheat at cards,” Gwynn smirks. “Talon, I think we’re a little more than friends.” 

“Are we best friends, then?” Talon offers. What exactly this title entails she doesn’t quite understand, but it sounds nice. Gwynn nods, then laughs. 

“Ok then!” Gwynn says. “You said we’re like fire and ice and we’ll destroy each other…but you’re wrong. I think...I think we love each other, really. I gave you my bond. I saved you from death. We’re like something out of a fairy tale.” 

“Gwynn,” Talon tries to imagine herself being Garret, Gwynn’s knight in shining armour and laughs. “Do you see a future with Garret? Marriage, children, all that?” 

“I can’t really think about that. My father despises Garret,” Gwynn says. “And he can be mean, sometimes. We hardly ever see each other nowadays. I don’t know. Maybe. If we got married I think I’d have to take his last name, though. Lady Gwynn Spears sounds like a warrior queen, don’t you think?”

“You could always hyphenate,” Talon suggests. She’s trying to imagine herself at their wedding. Would it be held at The Outpost? In a field? In the woods? Where Gwynn grew up? Would she even be invited? She hates it already. Garret is far from her mind as she kicks down the door down, as she and Gwynn lie next to each other on her bed. Talon can only hope she doesn’t have a nightmare. 

Before she shuts her eyes and tries to sleep, Talon glances at Gwynn again, under the light of the moon and thinks: _I’d do it again._

**Author's Note:**

>  _please_ comment if you enjoyed!!  <333


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